I thought that the Mille Miglia was absolutely crazy and was amazed that an event like that could be held at all. Only in Italy . . . or so I thought until recently when I learnt more about the insane Carrera Panamericana.
I have been involved in the watch world for 26 years; my first visit to Baselworld was in 1991. The massive fair halls have undergone two major reconstructive changes during this long period, in addition to several smaller updates. The last major reconstruction was finished in 2013. In no way, though, was I prepared for how the complex looks and feels when Art Basel is on compared to how I know it during the hustle and bustle of Baselworld.
“It’s a tent,” Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias jokingly explained during Art Basel at the opening of Robin Meier’s installation “Synchronicity,” pointing to the large, soft structure barely discernible behind him in the dark room. It did indeed look like a tent. A tent encompassing the most unusual type of art installation I had ever seen. Welcome to the world of synchronous firefly flashes and grasshopper chirps in the name of art.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race is legendary among motorsports enthusiasts, and I was overjoyed to have been Chopard’s guest during what is for many the most famous motorsport race in the world. At this year’s event I counted a great number of watch brands in attendance in some way including Rolex, Chopard, TAG Heuer, Rebellion, and Franck Muller.
Chopard co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele loves Porsche. “We are one of the rare watch brands with a genuine connection to cars,” Scheufele sums up the ultra-successful weekend of the 24 Hours of Le Mans during which Chopard’s partner Porsche added to its mythos by winning the race a seventeenth time. “Not every brand can say that.”
Every year since 2008, Longines has staged an exhibition match during Roland Garros featuring current and former professional tennis greats to play with the finalists of the Future Aces tournament. This year, the thirteen-year-old finalists, Xiaofei Wang and Jack Pinnington-Jones, had the pleasure of playing with French Davis Cup captain Arnaud Clément and 2007 Wimbledon doubles champion Michaël Llodra in an entertaining matchup of fake grunts and tricky hot dog shots.
The quintessential sports tourbillon, the Richard Mille RM 027 RN, officially debuted at the 2010 French Open on the wrist of that year’s champion, Rafael Nadal. It was specifically created to stand up to the punishment of the tennis court. Now Richard Mille introduces the RM 27-02, which is even more high-tech, mechanically resistant, and expensive than the first edition. Read on to find out why.
With the advent of the R60 Diablo mechanical belt buckle, Roland Iten now assures the world that you no longer have to be a princess to wear an incredible jewel in an everyday setting. Or even a prince. The highlight of the red gold and titanium chassis of the R60 Diablo mechanical belt buckle is a fairly well camouflaged fancy cognac diamond weighing in at 60.66 carats.
David Oscarson has been creating luxury fountain pens since 2000 and has won three Robb Report’s annual Best of the Best award – each one a personal tribute to the art of writing. “The biggest challenge today is helping people remember what a signature means: that it is an extension of one’s self,” says Oscarson. The use of hand-rendered guilloche and enamel, traditional art forms also seen in watchmaking, are emblematic of the brand, and Oscarson takes great care in keeping their quality pure. This also true of the new Alexander Fleming collection.
On a recent visit to the Valbray manufacture, I surreptitiously looked at the electrics in back of a CNC machine (as one does). Seeing my interest, Côme de Valbray, who co-founded the brand with his wife Olga, casually mentioned that the racks of electronics contained the processing power of 350 powerful computers and that the machine drew up to 90,000 watts of power in operation: that’s equivalent to the power used by around ten homes.